Rotary web aniline press



May 27, 1958 D. J. PAGE ROTARY WEB ANILINE PRESS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 24, 1955 INVENTOR. .DO/NP/Q/ /lje BY ,Ud/VW 7/- M4- fron/VFY.

May 27, 1958 D. J. PAGE ROTARY was ANILINE PRESS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed yy 24, 1955 J INVENTOR.' Doa/o/ J /Da e United States Patent ROTARY WEB ANILINE PRESS Donald J. Page, Green Bay, Wis.

Application May 24, 1955, Serial No. 510,737

Claims. (Cl. 101-219) My invention relates to improvements in printing presses.

My invention relates more particularly to improvements in the process of aniline printing and apparatus for carrying out said process.

Aniline printing is done with molded rubber plates which are adhered to the plate or type roll. Because of the watery consistency of aniline inks used for this type of printing and their high volatility which causes fast drying, the presses are usually run at an extremely high speed. In addition, in the usual arrangement in presses of this type, ink rolls transfer the ink to a plate roll which engages the tympan roll, the paper web to be printed upon being fed between the plate roll and tympan roll. In this operation the ink is exposed on two rolls for quite a distance and travels through approximately 366 on the surface of one ink roll and the plate roll before finally being transferred to the paper web. Thus, it is obvious that with presses of this type high speed as well as continuous operation is required.

There are many needs for presses of this type with host machines which operate only at intermittent intervals. Wrapping machines, for example, operate only when products arrive at the wrapping station. In these machines at present slow drying oil ink printers are used for spot-printing prices, dates, codes, etc. on the preprinted wrapping material as it passes through the wrapping machine. These inks do not print sharply, have a tendency to smudge and are otherwise not satisfactory. Previous types of aniline presses could not be used in such applications because the ink would dry on the rolls at the slightest stoppage of the machine, and wouldthus omit printing for a short lapse of time.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved construction of aniline press capable of use at slow speeds and at intermittent times.

A further object of the invention is to provide an irnproved aniline press which by its novel arrangement of ink pan, ink rolls, plate roll and tympan roll, carries ink through an arc of less than 135 turning of the axis of the ink rolls before transferring to the paper web.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved aniline press construction wherein the ink rolls are kept wet continuously regardless of whether printing is done or not.

A further object of the invention is to provide inan aniline press means for continuously operating the ink rolls of the same, so that even with intermittent operation of the press the ink on the rolls will at all times be wet and good printing results will beobtained at slow speed or intermittent printing runs.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent from the following description wherein reference is had to the accompanying drawings, upon which:

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view through `an aniline press embodying the features of my invention, positioned upon a host machine such as a package wrapping machine;

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Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end view from the right end of the press, taken generally on the line 2 2 as indicated on Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the gearing, ratchet and pawl of the plate roll, and is taken generally on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view through the shaft of the motor and associated parts which are carried by the ink roll frame, and is taken generally on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view thereof taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

VIn the embodiment of the invention which I have chosen to illustrate and describe the same, I have shown the aniline press mounted upon a support portion 10 of a host machine such as the usual type of Wrapping machine that is used in many places for wrapping packagesv in cellophane, paper, or other material which normally has printing of various types on the same. The machine as shown may have a conveyor 12 for carrying a product 14 into a position to be wrapped in the path of a paper web 16 that is moved into position by means of a pair of feed rolls 18 which are driven by the wrapping machine mechanism.

The shaft 20 of one of the rolls 18 may carry a drive sprocket 22 for driving the plate roll 24 of the press in register with the operation of the wrapping machine by means of a chain 26 that is geared to the sprocket 28 mounted on the shaft 30 of the plate roll 24. The shaft 30 may be journaled in suitable bearings in the vertical side support members 32 of the press. The shaft 30 may extend beyond the side support 32 to the left (Fig. 2) and carry a gear 34. A pawl 36 is fastened to the side of the gear 34 by a suitable bolt member 38. The sprocket wheel 2S previously mentioned carries a ratchet wheel 49 upon its face, the ratchet wheel 40 being so located that it may be engaged by the pawl 36, as will be presently described.

The gear 34 is adapted to mesh with a gear 42 which is mounted on the shaft 44 of the upper ink roller 46. This gear in turn meshes with a gear 48 that is mounted on the shaft 50 of the partially immersed ink roll 52. The shaft 50 may extend to the right of the side support 32 and carry a pulley 54 that has a belt 56 trained about the same and a similar pulley 58 mounted on the drive shaft 60 of a motor 62. The motor 62 is carried on the outside of the side support 32 on bracket 64 which depends from an ink roll frame 66. One of the frames 66 is mounted on a horizontal track 68 in each of the side supports 32, the same being moved back and forth by means of a threaded rod 70 and hand wheel 72 in the usual manner.

The ink roll frames 66 are connected by a pair of horizontal cross-rods 74 which support the ink pan or fountain 76 therebetween. The motor 62 has a disc 80 fastened to its drive shaft 60, the disc having a pawl 82 fastened to the side thereof by means of a bolt member 84. The pawl S2 engages a ratchet wheel 86 which is formed integral with the pulley 58.

With this construction, when the motor 62 is operating,V the pawl S2 will engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 86 to drive the same, and through the belt 56 and pulley 54, the ink rolls 46 and 52 will be rotated, and a continuous supply of ink will be applied to the surface of these rolls whether any printing is being done or not.

The tympan roll 90 may be mounted up a shaft 92 which is carried in suitable brackets 94 in the horizontal guideways 96 in the side supports 32. Horizontal reciprocal movement of the same is elfected by means of the threaded rod members 96 mounted in the side frames 32 and provided with the usual hand wheel 98. The roll of paper `webbing 196 may be mounted upon liost machine 10.' .t

When `thehost4 machine is operating'and productsv are beingccarried forward onthe. conveyor Y12 kto be wrapped, the sprocket 22will drive theY p ress rolls by, means of i* g thechain 26 andsprocke'tZgSvonithe plate roll'24; TheV the paper.V web as itis being drawn around thetympan n rollv by the `puller'rolls `llt ofthe machiner k10.

, VIt willY be notedthat the 'heavy linemarked A indicates,

the inkdilm which'is being carried to thersurface Vof the paper-swab, and itcan be seen from an examination of Fig. 1 that from Athe time the ink is Vpicked np'by theV rollto the timeV that it is deposited on lthe surface ofV thepaper web, itftr-avels only` a comparatively Yshort distance Yand through=an arc ofless than; 135. The

ink rollsf and`52 are preferably about 2%' inches inY Y diameter, so it* can yreadily beY seen :that the distance of v i travel of the 'ink from the fountain `to the plateroll is It will further, be noted that by this .ar'range-4 y very short. ment of theV ink rolls, plate roll and tympan roll, the inking ,elements areVco-nned into `a. .small space and the ink moves onlythrou'gha ,limitedrdistancenso that inY effect the operation takes place in asaturated atmosphere, thereby preventing lto a large extent any evaporation `such, asrw'ou'ldVv occur when it isV traveling over a considerable distanceas in other aniline presses. t

When the host'machine comes to a stop, as when one shipment ofthe product has been'wrapped and printing'isinte'rrupted, the motor 62-.which is continuously operating Aat faspeed slightly less than the speed of the hostmachine through the 'belt 56 and pulley 54 drives the lower ink roll 52. This in turn drives the may be applied to intermittently operating machines as Well as to those'that operate continuously: s

Another important feature of the invention `resides Y Y the fact that due to the direct chaining or gearing to the V host machine through the sprocket 22 and driveV chain 26, perfect registry is'obtained with the action ofthe wrapping machine, thus eliminatin'gthe necessity of the Vor the Wrapping machinery.

In dotted lines in Fig. l, I have shown the motor 62 and ink rolls 46 and 52 moved 'forward by meansof the hand wheel '72"and 4ink roll-"frame 66. -This is to accommodate a smaller plate roll 24a shown in ydotted lines. TheY tympan Vroll 9G is of course also moved forward to engage the periphery of the rubber platen on Vthe smaller platteV roll V24a by means of the Vmovablel Y brackets 94. Y

FromV the above and Y foregoing description it can be seen that l have provided an improved' aniline press which has the following advantages over the machines of the prior art; lt. carries the ink only through a short distance and only asmuch as 135 aroundthe periphery of the rolls.- in addition, due to thecontinuously Yoper-A ating motorV 62,theink rolls will *be kept continuously` wet. nFurther, by thesynchronizeddrive with the v,host

' is obtained with thematerial lto,bewrappecl.

Vupper inkroll 46 and plate roll gear. 34y by' means Vof and sprocket V2S arcata standstill and the ratchet wheel Y 46 isalso at afstandstill, the Vpawl 36 will continue to ride over the-teeth ofthe ratchet. in .this manner during-the' intermittent stoppage of a..host machinesuch 'Y next quantity of products are to be wrapped, thesprocket Z4 will` lrotate the plate roll Aat a greaterY speed Vthan Vit has been running. As .a result, the ratchet 40 will engage the pawl 36 and inV turn carry'the gear 34 and 1 its assoclated` gearsV on the ink rollers at a rate of speed thatjis synchronized with the Vspeed of the wrapping machine. When thistakes -place the accelerated speedY willLbe V'tnansmitted, through the shaft Si) of the ink roll 52 vto the pulley 5d, which inturn will/'drive the pulley V5,8 at a speed greater than that of the Vdisc Se and'pawl Y82'driven by thelmotor 62,thus completelychanging the-drive from the lmotor 62 togthe hostinachine i6.V i

,Ihe mechanism aboveV described thus accomplishes the v'main object of the invention, and'that is to'keep the` ink `rolls ,continuously wet. 'in addition the rubber plates or platensZS which are used seldom, if yever, form a continuous blanket around the plate roll, so that, as shown i' on the drawings, the plate roll comes to rest each time with the breakfof the'blanket occurring atV the point Vthe' trainof gears 4S, i2 and V34. Since the chain 26 where the ink transfer roll meets the plate roll so that i the ink transfer ,roll can rotate freely with the plateroll t Vand said-plate roll therewith.`

While the pressithas been` described andishown in i connection with a wrapping machine,`it'isofcourse. ap-

parent thatV Vthe adyantag'es of thesame can ,be applied wherever printing Vof this -type is required, and it may kbe' utilizedV with bag making machines, carton and case Y marking machines, and for every type of ,labeling Vor printing in connection with paper converting and fabricating" limited inany particular; rather what 1I desire to secure Vand protect by'Lettei-sV Patent of the UnitedStates is:

. l. 'A printing press foruse with aniline ink comprising a pair of vertical side supports, a pair of ink roll frame members mounted therebetween, an ink fountain and aV pair ofV ink rolls carriedby said frame members, a pair ofV v bearings mounted 'in said fside supports above said ink posure of ink during a printing operation is confined fbe-r tween portions of the Y,ink roll,rp1ate roll and tympan roll,

brackets for supporting ,a roll of p'aper on one edge of said side supports, idler rollers for the web of paper adjaA centtsaid tympan roll, lsaid inkrrolls and ysaid plate roll havingy a train of gears on one side of the same, a sprocket..

on Aone of said ink rolls, a motor-and a Apulley and belt an independent drive `the'reto'for Iuse duringa printing operation, saidlidrive being faster than said motor drive, gear 'being "in free-wheel engagement Y2.`v A pintingpress Yfor use with aniline' ink adapted to be mountedeupona packaging machine andV driven in syn:

chronism therewith,saidfpackaging machine having a base,

a pair of web'pulling /ro'llsfa sprocket on one endof said rolls, Vsaid Vpress including a pair-of vertical yside supports mounted on said base, a pair, of kink roll framemembers mounted for horizontal reciprocationin saidV sidev supports,

a continuously operating'motor carried by one Vof, said ink' roll 'frame members, an inkfountain and a pair 'ofirik rolls carried between said yfreine members, a'pair -offhojt zontally adjustable bearings mounted in said side supports above said ink rolls, a tympan roll carried thereby, a plate roll mounted in bearings in said side supports, said ink rolls being mounted generally below and to one side of said plate roll, the tympan roll being imounted above said ink rolls and on one side of said plate roll, whereby the exposure of ink during printing operation is confined between portions of the'ink roll, plate roll and tympan roll, brackets for supporting a roll of paper on one edge of said side supports, idler rollers for a web of paper adjacent said tympan roll, each of said ink rolls and said plate roll having gears on one end of the same and a pulley and belt drive from said motor to one of said ink rolls, said web of paper threaded over said tympan roll and down through said web pulling rolls, said plate roll having a sprocket on its end and a chain drive thereto from said packaging machine sprocket.

3. An aniline printing press of the type having an ink fountain, a web, an intermittently operating plate roll, a

tympan and continuously operating ink transfer rolls associated with said fountain, the disposition of the ink rolls being such that from the point of metering from the ink fountain to the point of application to the web, the ink is carried no more than 135 turning of the axis of the ink transfer rolls on the surfaces of the ink transfer rolls and o the plate roll combined, the tympan roll being mounted in alignment with the plate roll and above the ink rolls and being of the same ysize as the ink rolls, the mounting of the rolls being such tha-t the plate roll mounting is fixed and the tympan and ink rolls are adjustable to compensate the point of application to the web, the ink is carried no more than 135 turning of the axis of the ink transfer rolls on the surfaces of the ink transfer rolls and the plate roll combined, the tympan roll being mounted in alignment with the plate roll and above the ink roll and being of the sa-me size as the ink rolls, the mounting of the rolls being such that the plate roll mounting is xed and the tympan and ink transfer rolls are independently adjustable to compensate for various size plate rolls, said press having drive means for continuous rotation of the ink transfer rolls only between printing operations to effect a continuous wet ink supply, said press also having independent drive means for use during a printing operation.

5. An aniline printing press of the type having an fountain, a web, an intermittently operating plate roll, a tympan and ink transfer rolls associated with said fountain, the disposition of the ink transfer rolls being such that from the point of metering from the ink fountain to the point of application to the web, the ink is carried no more than 135 Iturning of the axis of the ink transfer rolls on the surfaces of the ink transfer rolls and the plate roll combined, the tympan roll being mounted in alignment with the plate roll and above the ink roll and being of the same `size as the ink rolls, said press having a continuous drive for the ink transfer rolls only, said drive including a motor, a drive shaft therefrom, a drive from said shaft to one of said ink rolls and a train of gears between said in k rol and the other ink roll.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,938,859 Potdevin Dec. 12, 1933 2,128,343 Bemis et al Aug. 30, 1938 2,283,003 Frostad et al May 13, 1942 2,329,454 Burroughs Sept. 14, 1943 2,424,732 Belluche et al July 29, 1947 2,603,153 Warren et al July 15, 1952 2,668,496 Thompson Feb. 9, 1954 

